Global governance scholarship has thus far remained in the realm of idea, identifying new lawmaking authorities and networks of enforcement while analyzing the ramifications for democracy and the rule of law. This conference strives to advance that line of scholarship by identifying patterns in the ways that various actors – states, corporations, civil society, and resulting networks – are confronting complex problems resulting from globalization. The aim is to discover more effective solutions for such problems, including, for instance, poverty, environmental degradation and terrorism, and to explore common principles that may cut across substantive contexts. Panelists will consider the eventual goal of putting into operation what has been learned from global governance scholarship to this point. This conference is a first step toward the implementation of best practices in global governance, applying what is known about these new actors and relationships to local and global problems of unprecedented complexity.

In the past few years, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided several high-profile cases in which litigants have asserted that various sources of domestic and international law constrain the range of policy options available to the government in pursuing U.S. foreign policy objectives. Invariably, the opposing parties submit legal briefs that rely heavily on historical practice and precedent to support their respective positions. This symposium will bring together a group of leading legal historians and foreign relations law scholars to examine the use and misuse of history in framing legal arguments related to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. The symposium is organized around four main panels. For each panel, a principal author will present his or her paper, and two other scholars will provide commentaries.

Friday, February 1, 2008

On Wednesday, at a Special Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Zhiguo Gao (China) was elected a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Guangjian Xu (China) on August 15, 2007. In accordance with Article 6 of the Statute of the Tribunal, Judge Gao will hold office for the remainder of his predecessor's nine-year term, which expires on September 30, 2011. Judge Gao was the only candidate nominated and obtained 136 votes out of 137 ballots cast, with one abstention. Prior to his election, Judge Gao was Executive Director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs. A full bio is available here.

This one-day conference and workshop will focus on recent developments in World Trade Organization Law, including appraisals of the Doha Round and its implications, WTO law in a world of fragmented international law, WTO law and developing countries, and the impact of WTO law in domestic legal systems. The event will feature cutting-edge scholars presenting their papers and ideas about WTO-related developments.

This essay examines the jurisprudence of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral tribunals in a series of cases brought against the Republic of Argentina in the wake of the 2001-2002 Argentine financial collapse. The essay considers the ICSID tribunals' treatment of non-precluded measures provisions in Argentina's bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the customary law defense of necessity and argues that the ICSID tribunals have sought to radically narrow the opportunities available to states to craft policy responses to emergency situations while strengthening investor protections beyond the intent of the states parties to the BITs under which these cases have been brought. The essay critiques this line of jurisprudence and suggests that the September 2007 Report of the Annulment Committee in the case of CMS v. Argentina may be read as an effort from within the ICSID system itself to question the legitimacy and structure of current investor-state arbitration.

Having as its core theme Law for the Future, the Conference will seek for answers to pressing questions, such as: Does present international law meet the needs of the modern world? What can be done to overcome the differences between conflicts and legal solutions in modern society? What is the role for the Academy, for lawyers, for national and international Courts, in contributing towards the development of legal concepts for the future?

The Conference will thus address current issues, presently under consideration by the ILA Committees, such as:

Law of the Sea • Space Law • Legal Aspects of Biotechnology • Legal Aspects of the Use of Natural Resources.

The 2008 Conference will also hold meetings of ILA Committees and Study Groups, in which their membership and other interested parties will discuss and consider the research performed over the last two years on each one's area of interest, and discuss the relevant report where the work has been completed.

The theme of this year's Conference reflects a number of debates (or struggles) occurring in public international law. The field is fragmenting, to be sure, but at every turn similar dilemmas arise. In a world marked by increasing scarcity and insecurity, does international law need to be reconfigured to accommodate or confront the threat of hegemony, or to realise the promise of justice (or kindness), or to facilitate the redistribution of resources (or the operation of the market), or to reconcile the imperatives of economic well-being (or gross over-consumption) with the salvation of planetary life? If so, what role ought we, as international lawyers, play in ordering, reordering or reimagining the global commonwealth?

Accordingly, the Conference Organising Committee now calls for proposals for papers to be presented at the 16th Annual Conference. Special consideration will be given to proposals which seek to develop the Conference theme in one or more of the following areas:

(1) the meaning of security (military, human, state) in contemporary international law;

(2) the struggle over international law and human rights in national courts (Al Jedda, Al Skeini, Hicks, Hamdan, Boumediene);

(3) current issues for international law (including those arising from the war on terror, the protection of whale stocks, poverty, gender, global climate change, disarmament and nuclear proliferation);

(4) the protection of the global environment and prevention ofglobal warming in the context of inequality and the "carbon debt"?

(5) the role of international institutions, international lawyers and civil society in promoting or ameliorating injustice (e.g. Australian Government's proposal to bring Iran to the International Court of Justice).

A range of journals have expressed interest in receiving submissions of conference papers for consideration for publication including, the Australian Yearbook of International Law, the New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law, the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law and the Australian International Law Journal. Conference papers will also be published (unedited and unrefereed) in a new International Papers database to be established by Austlii athttp://www.austlii.edu.au/.

The Organising Committee encourages proposals which present collaborative research amongst Society members and/or which focus on the role of international law in the Asia-Pacific region. Recently-appointed academics, in particular, are encouraged to send proposals. Post-graduate students and those wishing to present on their post-graduate thesis work are encouraged to submit their proposals for the Post-Graduate Workshop to be held immediately prior to the Conference on 25 June 2007.

A one page abstract and a one page resumé should be submitted to the Organising Committee by Friday 7th March 2008 by email to the Conference Administrator: Kavitha Robinson atcipl@law.anu.edu.au.

Michael Carrell & Iris Müller (both, International Committee of the Red Cross Customary International Humanitarian Law Project) will give a talk today at University of Cambridge Lauterpacht Centre for International Law Lent Term Lecture Programme on "A Report from the Trenches on the ICRC Humanitarian Law Project."

David Kennedy (Harvard Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the Georgetown University Law Center International Human Rights Colloquium on "Of War and Law."

The Fourth Report of the International Law Commission's Special Rapporteur on the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties, Ian Brownlie, has been issued (A/CN.4/589). The Report will be considered by the ILC at its sixtieth session, which begins on May 5th.

Yesterday, the public hearings in the case concerning Certain Questions of Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (Djibouti v. France) were concluded at the International Court of Justice. Djibouti's application is here; the written proceedings (the memorial and counter-memorial) are here; and the oral proceedings are here. In its Application, Djibouti alleged that "the refusal by the French governmental and judicial authorities to execute an international letter rogatory regarding the transmission to the judicial authorities in Djibouti of the record relating to the investigation in the 'Case against X for the murder of Bernard Borrel'" constituted a breach of France's international obligations under the Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation signed by the two States on June 27, 1977 and the Convention on Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters between France and Djibouti, dated September 27, 1986. Djibouti also alleged that, by summoning certain Djibouti nationals (including its President, Public Prosecutor, and Head of National Security) in connection with the criminal proceedings in the Borrel case, France breached its international obligations concerning the immunities of Heads of State and State officials. France consented to the Court's jurisdiction, pursuant to Article 38, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Court.

At the conclusion of the oral proceedings the Agents of the Parties made the following final submissions:

For Djibouti:

The Republic of Djibouti requests the Court to adjudge and declare:

1. that the French Republic has violated its obligations under the 1986 Convention:

(

i) by not acting upon its undertaking of 27 January 2005 to execute the letter rogatory addressed to it by the Republic of Djibouti dated 3 November 2004;

(ii) in the alternative, by not performing its obligation pursuant to Article 1 of the aforementioned Convention following its wrongful refusal given in the letter of 6 June 2005;

(iii) in the further alternative, by not performing its obligation pursuant to Article 1 of the aforementioned Convention following its wrongful refusal given in the letter of 31 May 2005;

2. that the French Republic shall immediately after the delivery of the Judgment by the Court:

(i) transmit the “Borrel file” in its entirety to the Republic of Djibouti;

(ii) in the alternative, transmit the “Borrel file” to the Republic of Djibouti within the terms and conditions determined by the Court;

3. that the French Republic has violated its obligation pursuant to the principles of customary and general international law not to attack the immunity, honour and dignity of the President of the Republic of Djibouti:

(i) by issuing a witness summons to the President of the Republic of Djibouti on 17 May 2005;

(ii) by repeating such attack or by attempting to repeat such attack on 14 February 2007;

(iii) by making both summonses public by immediately circulating the information to the French media;

(iv) by not responding appropriately to the two letters of protest from the Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti in Paris dated 18 May 2005 and 14 February 2007 respectively;

4. that the French Republic has violated its obligation pursuant to the principles of customary and general international law to prevent attacks on the immunity, honour and dignity of the President of the Republic of Djibouti;

5. that the French Republic shall immediately after the delivery of the Judgment by the Court withdraw the witness summons dated 17 May 2005 and declare it null and void;

6. that the French Republic has violated its obligation pursuant to the principles of customary and general international law not to attack the person, freedom and honour of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Djibouti and the Head of National Security of Djibouti;

7. that the French Republic has violated its obligation pursuant to the principles of customary and general international law to prevent attacks on the person, freedom and honour of the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Djibouti and the Head of National Security of the Republic of Djibouti;

8. that the French Republic shall immediately after the delivery of the Judgment by the Court withdraw the summonses to attend as témoins assistés [legally represented witnesses] and the arrest warrants issued against the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Djibouti and the Head of National Security of the Republic of Djibouti and declare them null and void;

9. that the French Republic by acting contrary to or by failing to act in accordance with Articles 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation of 1977 individually or collectively has violated the spirit and purpose of that Treaty, as well as the obligations deriving therefrom;

10. that the French Republic shall cease its wrongful conduct and abide strictly by the obligations incumbent on it in the future;

11. that the French Republic shall provide the Republic of Djibouti with specific assurances and guarantees of non-repetition of the wrongful acts complained of.

For France:

The French Republic requests the Court:

1. (a) to declare that it lacks jurisdiction to rule on those claims presented by the Republic of Djibouti upon completion of its oral argument which go beyond the subject of the dispute as set out in its Application, or to declare them inadmissible;

The United Nations Security Council has increasingly resorted to sanctions as part of its efforts to prevent and resolve conflict. United Nations Sanctions and the Rule of Law traces the evolution of the Security Council's sanctions powers and charts the contours of the UN sanctions system. It also evaluates the extent to which the Security Council's increasing commitment to strengthening the rule of law extends to its sanctions practice. It identifies shortcomings in respect of key rule of law principles and advances pragmatic policy-reform proposals designed to ensure that UN sanctions promote, strengthen and reinforce the rule of law. In its appendices United Nations Sanctions and the Rule of Law contains summaries of all 25 UN sanctions regimes established to date by the Security Council. It forms an invaluable source of reference for diplomats, policymakers, scholars and advocates.

Phil Clark(Univ. of Oxford - Centre for Socio-Legal Studies) will give a talk today at the Oxford Transitional Justice Research Group on "Community Justice for Genocide: The Gacaca Courts, Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda."

Sibylle Scheipers (Univ. of Oxford - Changing Character of War Programme) will give a talk today at the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War on "Detention in the 'War on Terror': Legal Norms, Strategic Cultures and the Future of the Transatlantic Security Community."

This volume seeks to provide the reader with a clear understanding to the way that protected areas are created, listed and managed in international law. In doing so, it provides a complete overview of the primary international and regional conventions in this area, and the decisions and resolutions that have come from them. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive examination of, inter alia, the World Heritage Convention, the Man and the Biosphere regime, the Ramsar (Wetlands) Treaty, and the Convention on Migratory Species. It also deals extensively with the important regional conventions in this area, covering Europe, Africa and the Americas. The regimes governing international maritime protected areas, and Antarctica, are also dealt with. In each area, the values, selection considerations, management, and compliance considerations are examined in detail and linked into recognizable examples from well known protected sites of international significance.

Letters of credit and bank guarantees are the most important financial instruments in international exchange. Matti S. Kurkela, a leading expert in the field, presents an advanced, extensive study and guide to letters of credit. The author analyzes the material rules and principles applicable to them; conflict of laws as well as law merchant applied regardless of place of operation or nationality of the parties involved. Letters of Credit and Bank Guarantees under International Trade Law is the only true guide whose focus is on international law and choice of applicable law, with comparisons of the UCP, the UCC and selected national laws.

Tomer Broude (Hebrew Univ. - Law) will give a talk today at the University College London Faculty of Laws WTO Scholars' Forum on "Normative Integration as Authority Allocation: Two Models and Their Application in the WTO."

Vaughan Lowe (Univ. of Oxford - Law) will give a talk today at the University of Oxford Department of Politics and International Relations Lecture Series on Foundations of Governance in a Globalized World on "Private Disputes and the Public Interest in International Law."

Eric Posner (Univ. of Chicago - Law) will give a talk today at the Columbia Law School Legal Theory Workshop on "The Recurrent Illusion: International Relations and Global Legalism."

An Chen, Distinguishing Two Types of Countries and Properly Granting Differential Reciprocity Treatment - Re-comments on the Four Safeguards in Sino-Foreign BITS Not to be Hastily and Completely Dismantled